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Explore My Reflections
Following the contemplative rhythm of Lectio Divina
Moving from Attentive Reading (Lectio)
To Reflection (Meditatio)
To Prayerful Response (Oratio)
And finally into Silent Resting in God (Contemplatio)
Grappling With Divinity invites a slow unfolding of Scripture, Spiritual Wisdom, and Lived Experience.
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Fleeing the God Who Waits: Thomas Merton, Distraction, and Love (Lectio Divina)
We fill our hours with noise because silence has come to feel unbearable — and then wonder why the restlessness never lifts. Thomas Merton named this flight for what it is: a mechanism built into modern life itself, geared to carry us away from God and into what he called the wilderness of neurosis.…
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To Lose All, To Be Filled: James Finley and the Love That Empties Itself Out For Others (Lectio Divina)
What if the love God asks of you was never meant to be kept, only carried? James Finley’s reading of Merton names a strange exchange at the heart of the Christian life — that we are emptied out not as loss, but so we might be filled with something we could never have held…
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The Gift We Mistake for a Burden: John Mark Comer and the Freedom Found in Restraint (Lectio Divina)
What if the busyness draining your life isn’t solved by trying harder, but by doing less? John Mark Comer names the disciplines most of us skip first when our schedules fill up — the ones that were never meant to be optional. This reflection sits with what it costs to let go of control…
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The Prison of Our Own Making: Fr. Mike Schmitz and God’s Prevenient Grace (Lectio Divina)
What if the very desire to change, to turn back, to finally give in was never something you drummed up on your own? Fr. Mike Schmitz names a truth easy to miss in the middle of every struggle: God is always the one who moves first. This reflection sits with what it means to…
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Crucified Desire: Ignatius of Antioch and the Murmur of Living Water Within (Lectio Divina)
What if the thirst you can’t seem to satisfy was never meant to be quenched by anything you’re chasing? Ignatius of Antioch, writing on his way to martyrdom, names a longing so complete it has already crucified every rival desire — and this reflection sits with what it costs to let that murmuring water…
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The Attacks That Prove You Are Beloved: Ambrose, Satan, and Mysterious Grace (Lectio Divina)
Satan will not rest while you draw breath in Christ — and that very refusal to surrender you is the proof of a truth that terrifies him: that Love still reaches for you. But what does it mean to be fought over? And what if the fiercest assaults of the enemy are not signs…
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Not Only Christians, But Christ: Augustine on Becoming His Body (Lectio Divina)
What if becoming a Christian was never the destination, but the beginning of becoming Christ Himself? Augustine’s audacious claim about head and members reframes baptism, breath, and even your next Communion as something far more intimate than belief.
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Not by Knowing, But by Loving: Brother Lawrence and the Practice of Simple Love (Lectio Divina)
A seminarian once told me I might be more theologically advanced than he is. I demurred — but the compliment stayed with me longer than I expected, because Brother Lawrence has a hard word for anyone who mistakes knowing about God for loving Him.
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So Soon Fallen Again: Francis de Sales and the Grace After Our Falls (Lectio Divina)
Some falls come so fast after the last one that despair feels like the only honest response. St. Francis de Sales knew the shame of falling again into the same old snare — and refused to let that shame have the final word. This reflection sits with woundedness that begets more woundedness, with St.…
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To Simply Be: Evelyn Underhill and the Sabbath Beneath Our Striving (Lectio Divina)
Most of us spend our lives conjugating three verbs — to want, to have, and to do — until the wanting becomes its own kind of unrest. Evelyn Underhill named the verb beneath all of it: to be. This reflection sits with what it costs to stop, and what’s waiting for us in the…
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Before We Cry Out: Julian of Norwich and the Prayer God Prays in Us (Lectio Divina)
What if the prayer you’ve been struggling to find words for was already being prayed before you knew how to ask? Julian of Norwich names a goodness that does not wait for the right words, the right posture, or even the right understanding of what is happening — it comes down to meet us in…
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No Eyes to See: Pseudo-Dionysius and the Silence Beyond Understanding (Lectio Divina)Template
What if the silence that feels most like abandonment is actually something else entirely — a light too bright for us to bear? This reflection follows what happens when the words finally run out, and what waits for us on the other side of understanding.
